The wind was booming Saturday. We headed out and since there was a race going on, hugged the windward shore. Once clear of the race course, We headed out into open water and full wind. Almost immediately, the jib was pulled off the forestay. Flying only by the head, the tack and clew, it wasn't the right shape and made the ship hard to handle. We made it back closer to shore where the wind dropped off and I brought it down and refastened it to the forestay. We turn around and headed out into the wind and almost immediately lost the jib hanks again. i went forward and wrestled the jib into the hatch and we spent the rest of the day moving pretty fast with just the main sail.
Question: Should I replace the jib hanks? The genoa has brass ones and they can be found at WestMarine for about $7 each. The brass ones are expecting an eye in the jib and the original small plastic ones are held in place with a screw through the sail. JD has plastic ones ($1.66 ea) that look pretty close to the original ones. Could the original ones just be tired? Should I put more of them on the jib?
This isn't a problem I have ever encountered before so I'm really looking for help.